A tornado struck Oak Cliff on April 2, 1957, killing ten people and leaving over 200 injured. The path of damage stretched
from South Polk Street, through Winnetka Heights, into West Dallas
before falling apart Love Field. This view is looking
west over the West End and Trinity River. The now-demolished Rio Grande
Building, which stood on Pacific Street, is visible in the left
foreground, as is the old Sanger's Department Store. Photo courtesy of the
Dallas Times Herald. Description courtesy Mark Doty.

On Thursday, November 9, 1922, football was on the mind of many Oak Cliff residents, as the Leopards of Oak Cliff High School took on the Wolves of Bryan Street High School at Gardner Park. We don't know who won the game, but thanks to this football program we found on eBay, we do know it happened.

Besides the obvious marking of Dallas' long-standing high school football tradition, the game involves several Oak Cliff mainstays. Oak Cliff High School would become Adamson High School in 1935, and Bryan Street High School would become Crozier Tech. Gardner Park would later be known as Burnett Field, near the edge of the Trinity River. Gardner was home to a baseball field at the time, but it is unclear if a football field was also there or if the game was played in the baseball stadium.

Here is a scan of the inside of the program, listing the names of the Oak Cliff High football players (click the image to see a larger version):

An electrical fire destroys the sanctuary of Iglesia De Cristo on Westmoreland Road in Oak Cliff in the early hours of February 17. The building is remembered by many as the home of Beverly Hills Baptist Church and Beverly Hills Christian School. It was later known as Church of the King.

Sunset High School opened in 1925 to accommodate the growing Oak Cliff community and relive overcrowding at nearby Oak Cliff High School (later W.H. Adamson High School). It currently serves over 2,000 DISD high school students.

Located at 2600 S. Zang Boulevard (just south of Illinois), Kip's Big Boy opened in 1959 and was a community staple until the 1980s. It operated as other various types of restaurants until 2015, when it was demolished to build a grocery store.

We are currently redesigning and reconstructing VisitOakCliff.com to make it even better! You'll see different pages and features appear, some in unfinished form, but we will provide you the same great information we did before, with a few new surprises! Stay Tuned!